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Friday, 28 March 2014

Nick v Nigel: After The Debate

The only reason this debate happened was because Nick Clegg challenged Nigel to the debate - as part of the debate Nick got his message, that Britain is Better off IN Europe, across to millions of voters. His key message was that we need to be Europe to protect the British Economy, British Jobs, and our future prosperity.

Nick made the best arguments, making the case for why Europe is good for British jobs, security and influence in the world.

Following the first debate YouGov made a poll and while I'm sure that you know the result (57% of people thing Nigel Farage won, 36% Nick Clegg, and 7% didn't know) what you might not know is that if you look at the result for people who identified themselves as Labour or Conservative supports Nick did a lot better with 51% of Labour voters thinking Nick won, and even 27% of Conservatives

Liberal Democrats want Britain to stay in the EU because we are fighting for a stronger economy – fighting to defend millions of British jobs which are linked to our trade with the EU. Being in Europe gives us more strength when negotiating trade deals with global players like the US, China, India and Brazil. We are the party of in – In Europe, In Work. Liberal Democrats are working to defend millions of British jobs, create millions more and put thousands of pounds back in your pocket by making it easier for British companies to export and slashing red tape for small businesses.

The Conservatives are now openly flirting with exit. And the Labour Party don’t have the courage of their convictions on this – they won’t lift a finger to keep Britain in the EU.

The Tories and UKIP are putting millions of British jobs at risk and jeopardising billions of pounds of investment by undermining our membership of the EU through their eurosceptic obsession. Their anti-EU ideology has gone so far that they have gone soft on crime. Liberal Democrats in Government stopped them from pulling Britain out of key crime fighting tools such as the European Arrest Warrant that are crucial in combating criminal gangs, terrorists and paedophiles.

UKIP MEPs are also amongst the laziest in the EU and don’t stand up for Britain in Europe when it counts.

Labour can’t be trusted with the economy at home or abroad. Labour’s reckless spending and failure to regulate the banks crippled Britain's economy and Liberal Democrats in Government have been cleaning up their mess ever since. Not content with causing economic chaos in Britain, Labour MEPs have supported measures that would impose huge burdens on British businesses such as to end the UK opt out to the 48-hour limit in the working time directive.​

The First Debate: Facts and RebuttalsClaimsClaim: Over 3m jobs are linked to trade with the EU. The uncertainty of a ref would threaten theseSource: UK JOBS DEPENDENT ON THE EU- South Bank University- Brian Ardy, Iain Begg and Dermot Hodson

Claim: EU membership benefits every household by up to £3,300 as govt figures show.Source: THE UK AND THE SINGLE MARKET- Department for Business, Innovation and Skills/DfID 2011

Claim: The EU is the world’s largest economySource: World Bank and the IMF both say the EU is the world's largest economy

Claim: Migrant entrepreneurs set up 1 in 7 new businessesSource: Centre for Entrepreneurs

Claim: From 2001-2011 EU migrants put £22bn into the UK economySource: Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration November 2013

Claim: This week we have seen Siemens create 1,000 new jobs in Hull

Claim: The European Arrest Warrant has put hundreds of people behind bars.(Government figures.)

Claims: In Sunderland, Nissan employs 6100 people and exports 80% of output to Europe

Claim: We've tightened the rules on migrants claiming benefits.Source: In order to pass the improved Habitual Residence Test, migrants will have to answer more individually-tailored questions, provide more detailed answers and submit more evidence before they will be allowed to make a claim.

RebuttalsClaim: Membership of the EU costs £55m a dayFact: Even UKIP's own figures say otherwise- in their own document- “How much does the European Union Cost Britain” they estimated the cost would be £22.8m.

Claim: The Lib Dems promised a referendum and haven’t delivered itFact: We are consistent & clear - a referendum when fundamental change - but on In / Out, not simply on treaty

Claim: Immigrants are taking away jobs from British workersFact: 9/10 of all new jobs go to British citizensSource: Office of National Statistics Labour Market Statistics November 2013

Claim: 75% of laws are made in EuropeFact: House of Commons Library say 6.8%, not 75%, of our laws come from EU.

Claim: Immigrants are claiming huge sums in benefitsFact: Only around 2.2% of benefit claimants are from EuropeSource: House of Commons Library SN/SG/6077

Claim: EU Regulations are stifling our businessesFact: 5 EU Countries are in the top 10 most competitive in the worldSource: The Global Competitiveness Report

Claim: Criticism of the European Arrest WarrantFact: The European Arrest Warrant has put hundreds of people behind bars. (Government Figures) and the police say it is an "essential weapon"(Sir Hugh Orde to Home Affairs Committee).

Claim: The author of the [South Bank University] report that claims over 3 million jobs are linked to our trade with the EU has disowned the figuresFact: He has not disowned the report.

Claim: Iceland has a trade deal with China- you don’t have to be in the EUFact: Iceland took 6 yrs to sign China trade deal. In EU, it would have had more influence.

Claim: European ArmyFact: We don't need a European Army, the UK has the 4th biggest defence budget in the world